Doomsday Preppers is an EMBARRASSMENT for the firearm community

This is a discussion on Doomsday Preppers is an EMBARRASSMENT for the firearm community within the General Firearm Discussion forums, part of the Related Topics category; NatGeo reran some of the episodes again yesterday and out of curiosity I watched the one with Tim "the Thumb" again. He at least seemed ...

NatGeo reran some of the episodes again yesterday and out of curiosity I watched the one with Tim "the Thumb" again. He at least seemed more "normal" than some of the other "oddballs" that the probram had featured. I'd really like to know HOW he shot his thumb and what gun he was firing. I had initially thought he had been firing a revolver, but on rewatching the show, he was firing a Ruger 10/22 right before they cut away. When the film started again, he was on the ground being bandaged.

He commented that the gun "misfired" and his thumb has slipped in front of the muzzle. Major safety fail! He commented that he was glad that it hadn't happened to one of the kids. Later, when he was sitting around the dining room table with his family, he commented that his son was correct when he said you should never point the muzzle at anything that you don't want to destroy, or something to that effect. So at least he is teaching the kids the rules of safety--even though he appears to have violated at least one of them himself!

He has also posted that it was an "experimental" gun and that it "malfunctioned". I just wonder if he was trying to make the 10/22 into a full auto? Maybe he modified some internal parts and when he finished firing he set the butt on the ground, had his hand near the end of the barrel, and the gun "butt fired"?

We'll probably never know the truth of what happened. He knows he screwed up. He doesn't appear to be stupid. I'd have a whole lot more respect for the man if he would have just "manned up" and admitted he made a dumb mistake, violated some safety rules, and shot himself, rather than trying to pass it off as a "malfunction" of the gun! As it stands, he tries to give the impression that it was the fault of the "gun" rather than the "operator". Just more ammo for the anti-gun crowd to show how "evil" and "dangerous" guns are!

And oh, my! It could have gone off when one of his kids was shooting it! Just glad it was him instead of one of them when the evil gun "malfunctioned"!!!

I've enjoyed the show. Take it for what it is and with a grain of salt. With any group of people there will always be extremists. Do I prep for the end of the world? No. Do I live by "one is none, and two is one" and try to keep extras of food and essentials around the house? Yes. As stated, it isn't a show about firearms safety, it is a show about prepping for the end of times, and firearms come with that subject.

Exactly how I look at it. There are similar threads about some of the other "gun" shows that have popped up in the last few years, like 'SON'S OF GUNS" and "AMERICAN GUNS". There are people who simply go ballistic when it comes to them, especially SOG. From some of the posts I've seen, you'd think the shows advocated taking Mother Teresa, wrapping her in an American flag then tar & feathering her in Times Square on Easter Sunday!

Personally, I feel the same about most of these shows as I do about the preppers... these are ENTERTAINMENT shows, not documentary programs or educational videos. To me they are no different than shows like "DUCK COMMANDER", "PAWN STARS" or "AMERICAN CHOPPER". These are real people (as in not professional actors) not necessarily portrayed in real world situations but under circumstances that are meant to entertain their viewers. I don't know of ANYBODY who thinks these shows and the dozens like them portray the average American gun owner anymore than the "JERSEY SHORE" crowd represent the average American 20 something. As a group, we normally take the subject of firearms very seriously and for good reason. However, I think we sometimes take ourselves and our passion for firearms too seriously. We occasionally need to lighten up and just enjoy the humor, ridiculousness and simple entertainment value these shows provide.

I have been shot twice in my life, once at age 12 and again in my early 30's (I'm now 60). I remember the events like it was yesterday and that it hurt. I still have the scars and I plan on doing my best to ensure I DON'T add to them in the future. When I'm at the gun range, carrying or any other time I'm around firearms, I approach firearms and their use with deadly seriousness. If I want to see something useful and/or educational, I'll watch shows like "GUNS & AMMO" or "AMERICAN RIFLEMAN". OTOH, shows like Preppers and SOG are a chance to see one of my favorite subjects - guns and their use - while enjoying a few laughs at the hair brained ideas and soap opera mentality these shows provide. Besides, how many of us at some point haven't secretly wanted to build a post apocalyptic underground bunker complete with indoor pool and disco club, turn a .22LR plinking rifle into a long range tactical sniper gun that can take down a charging elephant at 2 miles or turn an old Chevy Suburban into a personal armored attack vehicle straight out of "MAD MAX" complete with machine guns and rockets? Well, you know what, these guys actually do it!

The thing that makes me disappointed the most is that stations like the Nationally Geo Channel, Discovery Channel and the History Channel actually play this junk. It used to be reality shows like this were limited to your cruddiest channels, now it seems that everyone wants to jump on the lets-come-up-with-the-dumbest-tv-show-possible-and-then-put-it-on-tv bandwagon.